


I Will Catch You If You Fall

by Shamrock3185



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Hollstein - Fandom
Genre: Carmilla hurt, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, domestic hollstein, hollstein fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 03:32:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11371710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamrock3185/pseuds/Shamrock3185
Summary: It's almost Christmas and Carmilla gets hurt putting up Christmas lights for Laura. No serious injuries, but serious fluff & domestic Hollstein. Comments/feedback are appreciated & welcome! If you like this, check out my other Hollstein story, titled "I'll Take Care of You", in which Carmilla gets the flu & Laura takes care of her. I am writing many other fanfic stories, Carmilla & other fandoms, that I plan on posting, so stay tuned & let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)





	I Will Catch You If You Fall

It was going to be Carmilla and Laura’s third Christmas together. They were in their apartment in Toronto, Carmilla sitting on the living room floor, sifting through boxes Mr. Hollis had sent them full of Christmas decorations, Laura on the phone with her father in the kitchen. Her voice carried out to the living room, Carmilla listening in to every word she spoke as she pulled out strings of colorful lights, a stuffed reindeer, yard and window decorations, and more. 

Laura loved Christmas; it was her favorite holiday, something she was constantly reminding her girlfriend of. Carmilla was never fond of Christmas, finding it overrated and more of a pain in the ass than it was worth. But watching Laura beam as she hummed Christmas carols, pretending to be oblivious when Laura came home with what were clearly Christmas presents for her, the way Laura smiled and laughed as she baked gingerbread cookies, all made Carmilla’s soppy heart melt. Laura being happy made Carmilla happy, so even though the last thing on earth she felt like doing was going through boxes full of Christmas decorations, she did it happily, smirking as she listened to her girlfriend’s chipper voice.

“The gingerbread house came out great.” Laura was saying, making her and Carmilla hot chocolate in the kitchen. “I mean, I ate most of it already, but it was nice when we first put it together.”

A few moments silence. Mr. Hollis was clearly responding.

“Yeah, we got the boxes today. Carm’s sorting them out now. We’re gonna put everything up in a few minutes. Thanks again, dad.”

More momentary silence.

“No, we haven’t gotten a tree yet. I think we’re gonna go shopping for one either tomorrow or the next day. We need to find a small one, something that’ll fit in our apartment. Unfortunately we can’t have a really big one like at your house. We just don’t have the room.”

Silence again.

“We will. I know, I-” 

Laura sighed.

“Yes, dad. Safety first, I promise.”

Out in the living room, Carmilla smirked. She may not be able to hear Mr. Hollis talking, but she didn’t need to to know what he said. No doubt he was lecturing Laura about being careful while putting up decorations, being his usual overprotective dad self. 

“We miss you too, dad. Maybe next year we’ll come down again for the holidays.”

The previous Christmas, Laura and Carmilla stayed at Mr. Hollis’ to spend the holidays with him. Though Carmilla would much rather have spent Christmas Eve and Christmas alone with Laura at their apartment, she knew how much Laura’s father meant to Laura, and she was grateful Mr. Hollis had taken a liking to her, so she bit her tongue and went along with it. And truth be told, she did have a good time. The food was delicious, Laura showed her around her hometown, pointing out her high school and old hangout spots, being adorable and nostalgic, which made Carmilla soppy. But there was also the business of trying to be quiet during sex, not being able to shower together, and being self-conscious of kissing or holding Laura under her father’s watchful eye. But this year, they were spending Christmas at home, where Carmilla would have her girlfriend all to herself, so she sorted out the Christmas decorations without any objections.

“I’ll make sure I tell her. I love and miss you too, dad. Talk soon. Bye!”

Laura walked into the living room, smiling and wearing a dorky yet adorable Christmas sweater, maroon with a snowman on the front. 

“My dad says hi and Merry Christmas.” Laura said, sitting down next Carmilla and kissing her on the cheek.  
“That’s sweet.” Carmilla said, moving the last box aside. “Well cupcake, that’s everything sorted. All that’s left to do is put it all up.”  
“Awesome! Thanks, Carm.” Laura said, putting an arm around her neck. 

Carmilla reciprocated by putting her arms around Laura’s waist and pulling her in close, kissing her.

“What do you say we put these decorations up tomorrow and do something else tonight instead?” Carmilla asked in her low, sexy voice, smirking against Laura’s lips and running her hands through her blonde hair.  
“Carm.” Laura whined, pulling away slightly. “It’s almost Christmas. I waited a week for all this stuff to get here from my dad’s.”   
“It’s not going anywhere.” Carmilla objected.

Laura sighed, smiling and shaking her head.

“We’re putting the decorations up.” She said, untangling herself from her girlfriend and attempting to stand up. 

Carmilla grabbed her arm and tried to gently pull her back down.

“Come on, creampuff.” She begged.  
“Really?” Laura said, pulling her hand from Carmilla’s grasp. “Stop being lazy. I even made you hot chocolate.” 

Carmilla flopped back on the floor, groaning. Laura laughed before disappearing into the kitchen, saying over her shoulder,

“Help me with the Christmas decorations and I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Carmilla smirked and sat up, grabbing a strand of colorful lights.

“You’re killing me, Hollis.” 

Standing up, Carmilla turned on the spot and glanced around the living room, trying to decide where would be a good spot to hang the lights. Her eyes caught the front window.

“Laura, how about hanging the lights around the window?” She called. “Like, outlining it?”   
“Sure!” Laura yelled from the kitchen. “Do you wanna get started? I’ll be out with your hot chocolate in a sec. I just have to turn off the stove and add marshmallows.”   
“I’m on it, cupcake.” Carmilla said. 

She reached into the plastic bag on the couch and pulled out a box of thumbtacks. Laura had gone to the store earlier that day and bought tape, scissors, thumbtacks, ribbon, anything she thought would come in handy with the decorations.

The top of the window being high up, too high for Carmilla to reach on her own, she grabbed an end table near the couch and drug it over, standing on top of it. The lights in one hand and the box if thumbtacks in another, she began pinning them near the frame. She had to stand on her tip toes, and her socks were slippery against the polished wood. One wrong step, and-

There was a loud bang as Carmilla lost her footing and fell off of the end table, landing on the carpet with a loud thud and an exclamation of “FUCK!” She was tangled in the lights, the box of thumbtacks halfway across the room, some of them spilled across the floor. 

“CARM!” Laura yelled, having heard the sound and immediately panicked. 

She ran into the living room and saw Carmilla on the floor, picking herself up and sitting on her knees, holding her stomach and rocking back and forth, her face screwed up in pain. There was a small line of blood trickling down her face from her red nose.

“Carmilla!” Laura yelled, close to tears, running over to her girlfriend and kneeling down beside her. “Oh my God! What happened? Are you okay?” 

Laura quickly took off her sweater and began using it to wipe away the blood. Carmilla was spluttering and taking deep, uneven gasps, shaking her head.

“I’m… fine….get….away…” Carmilla growled.

Laura shook her head, gently brushing Carmilla’s dark hair out of her face.

“No, you’re not.” She said empathetically. 

Carmilla continued to rock back and forth, her breathing still harsh. 

“Babe, it’s alright…” Laura cooed, inching closer to her. “You knocked the wind out of yourself. Here, let me help you.”

Reluctantly at first, Carmilla allowed Laura to take her arms and open them up, then she had Carmilla sit up straight and expanded her chest slightly, her hands on Carm’s back.

“I know it hurts.” Laura cooed sweetly, “Just breathe. Deep breaths.” 

Desperate for the pain to go away, Carmilla obeyed. Laura rubbed her back and took deep breaths with her, occasionally whispering sweet things to her. After about two minutes, Carmilla could breathe again, her breathing steady and the pain subsiding. 

“I hate needing to breathe.” Carmilla said defensively, her face blushing slightly from embarrassment.  
“Hey…” Laura said, brushing her dark curls aside and kissing Carmilla’s cheek lovingly. 

Carmilla met Laura’s eyes as Laura pinched her nose, making her tilt her head back slightly.

“Your sweater’s going to be ruined.” Carmilla said, feeling guilty.  
“I don’t care about the stupid sweater.” Laura said, shrugging it off immediately. “I care about you.”

Carmilla’s human heart beat a little faster, and she couldn’t help but smile a little.

“What happened?” Laura asked, removing the sweater from her girlfriend’s face as her nose bleed had finally stopped.

“I slipped.” Carmilla admitted, inwardly cursing herself for being so clumsy.   
“You could’ve broken your neck.” Laura said, looking down and ringing her hands. “I’m sorry, Carm. I shouldn’t have asked you to do this by yourself. I shouldn’t have made you do it at all if you didn’t want to. I-”

A few tears ran down her cheek. Carmilla immediately reached over and wrapped the small girl in her arms. 

“Hey…” She whispered, kissing her girlfriend’s temple. “It’s okay, Laura. This is not your fault, creampuff. I’m over three hundred years old. I’ve taken plenty of falls, trust me.” She laughed. “Everything’s okay. I’m okay. You haven’t done anything wrong.” 

Laura unburied herself from Carmilla’s arms and let Carmilla wipe her tears away.

“Wait until I tell dad.” Laura hiccuped as she let out a genuine laugh.

Carmilla laughed, too.

“Oh, he’s gonna have a field day with that one, Sundance. He’ll be sending bubble wrap and flares and emergency kits next time.”

They both laughed, Carmilla leaning forward so her and Laura’s foreheads touched. She took the blonde’s face in her hands. 

“Why don’t you spot me while I finish hanging these god forsaken lights up?” Carmilla suggested. “I’ll go get a chair from the kitchen, and-”  
“No.” Laura said firmly. Carmilla was taken back.   
“But I thought you wanted-?” Carmilla began, but was cut off.  
“The lights can wait.” Laura said, waving away her suggestion. “All of the decorations can, for that matter. We’ll do it tomorrow. How about we just put on a crappy movie and drink hot chocolate? My nerves are totally shot.”

Carmilla smiled and ran her hands through Laura’s hair, kissing her forehead. Laura looked as if she had just had a heart attack. Carmilla being hurt really scared the hell out of her. Carm felt guilty, wanting nothing more than to wrap her cupcake up and kiss her better. Cuddling on the couch with a movie and hot chocolate sounded like a great way to do just that.

“Okay.” Carmilla said in her low voice. “I’ll go grab a blanket and pick out a movie. You get the hot chocolate. Deal?”   
“Deal.” Laura said, smiling back. 

She leaned in, bridging the space between them and kissed Carmilla lovingly.

“And, uh, if you’re not too hurt, you can have your reward for hanging up the Christmas lights. Or, you know, trying to.”

Carmilla smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“Go get the hot chocolate, cutie. You’re gonna need your energy.”


End file.
